Coimbatore: The food safety department in Erode seized 200kg of gutkha products worth Rs 2 lakh from a godown on Monday afternoon. The godown owner’s FSSAI license was immediately cancelled and the banned items were seized. The items will be destroyed once the samples test positive for nicotine content from the food testing laboratory.The department was informed by the Erode collectorate which received an anonymous tip about a grocery shop in the district selling gutkha products. “The informer told us it was a shop in Veerapachathram, opposite the Mariamman Koil in the area,” said designated food safety officer, Kalaivani. “We decided to bypass the shop and raid the godown instead,” she said.In Coimbatore, the food safety department raided around 55 Aavin booths across the district. They found 14 of the booths selling adulterated tea and many shops serving their bhajji and bonda in newspapers. “Food handlers were not using gloves,” said designated food safety officer Dr Vijayalalithambigai. “They were also using reused oil,” she added. “We have issued notices to the shops and given them food safety instructions,” she said. tnn

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